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Pocket Bread Recipe

2 teaspoons active dry yeast (¼ oz or 7 g)

½ cup warm water (120 ml)

6 cups whole wheat bread flour (900 g)

2 ½ teaspoons salt (14 g)

2 ½ cups water (590 ml)

OPTIONAL:

1 tablespoon honey (15 ml)

2 tablespoons non-diastatic malt syrup (30 ml)

¼ cup sesame oil (60 ml)

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.

Mix the flour and the salt and make a well in the center. If you are using the sweeteners and oil, stir them into the 2 ½ cups water; pour the liquids and yeast into the well in the flour, and stir from the center outward, making a smooth batter. Fold in the rest of the flour and mix thoroughly. Check to see whether the dough requires more water or flour, and add what is needed to make a soft dough. Knead very well.

Form the dough into a ball and place it smooth side up in the bowl. Cover and keep in a warm, draft-free place. After about an hour and a half gently poke the center of the dough about ½ inch deep with your wet finger. If the hole doesn’t fill in at all or if the dough sighs, it is ready for the next step. Press flat, form into a smooth round, and let the dough rise once more as before. The second rising will take about half as much time as the first.

Preheat the oven to 450°F when the second rising time is nearly finished. Turn out the risen dough and press flat on the board. Divide it into 20 to 24 pieces and shape them into smooth rounds. This will make pockets about six inches across; you can make them larger or smaller, of course. Let the rounds rest ten minutes or longer until they are quite soft. Protect them from drafts to keep the surface of the dough from drying out. This is essential.

Use as much flour on the board as you need to keep the dough from sticking. Roll about five of the rounds into flat circles about as thick as a heavy wool blanket and six inches across. If they are too thick, they will make nice buns but they won’t puff; if they are too thin, or if you are too rough with the rolling pin, they will puff in places, but won’t balloon up. Put the rolled breads on the floor of the hot oven, or on the cookie sheet or tiles or what have you, and close the door.

Start rolling out a few more, but don’t get distracted: check the breads in the oven in three minutes. They should have puffed by then, and may have browned a little on the bottom. If so, open one and check to see if the insides are done. They will be moist, but shouldn’t look shiny-wet. If you think they need a little more time, you can bake them a bit more on the top rack while the next batch bakes on the bottom of the oven. Don’t let them get crisp, though, or brown, because they will break when you fill them. The steam inside them bakes them extremely fast, and they will stay soft and flexible when cool. From here on out, work as efficiently as you can. The trickiest part is not to let the breads burn. Adjust your oven heat up and down as necessary.

NOTE: The honey, malt syrup, and oil are included for flavor only, and breads made without any of them puff at least as well as those made with them—maybe better.

Sicilian Pizza

BREAD

1 teaspoon honey (5 ml)

2 ½ cups warm water (590 ml)

2 teaspoons active dry yeast (¼ oz or 7 g)

1 tablespoon salt (16.5 g)

6 cups whole wheat flour (900 g)

2 tablespoons olive oil (30 ml)

½ cup warm water (120 ml)

This is a dinner bread rather than pizza as we usually think of it. The piquant sauce makes added cheese or butter quite superfluous.

Dissolve the honey in the 2 ½ cups warm water, and stir in the yeast.

Stir the salt into the flour. Make a well in the center, and pour the oil and the yeast mixture into the well. Starting from the center, stir with a spoon or with your hand until the dough incorporates all the flour.

Turn the dough out on the table and put about a half cup of warm water in the mixing bowl. Use this water instead of flour to keep the dough from sticking to your hands and the table